BookSeriesInOrder.com





Book Notification

Todd Moss Books In Order

Book links take you to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn money from qualifying purchases.

Publication Order of Judd Ryker Books

The Golden Hour (2014)Description / Buy at Amazon
Minute Zero (2015)Description / Buy at Amazon
Ghosts of Havana (2016)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Shadow List (2017)Description / Buy at Amazon

Todd Moss is an American author that writes international thrillers. A former diplomat in the United States government, Moss combines his first-hand knowledge of the workings of international politics with impressive storytelling abilities to produce fast-paced, action-packed novels.

+Biography

Todd Moss was once a high profile member of the U.S State Department. Before departing from the government in 2008, Moss was a diplomat who specialized in West Africa.

Moss was always flying around the world gathering support for African causes, this while fighting to put out the various political and social fires that were prone to erupting in West Africa.

His diplomatic career saw him rub shoulders with everyone from Condoleezza Rice to President Mugabe of Zimbabwe. The decision to leave the State Department was born out of a desire on the part of Todd Moss to expand his horizons and tackle new adventures.

And he got exactly what he was looking for, with his heavy resume earning him positions in organizations like the Economic Intelligence Unit and the World Bank, not to mention the London School of Economics and Georgetown University where the author had the opportunity to teach.

Since leaving the government, Todd Moss’ time is primarily consumed by his work with the Center for Global Development.

Writing literary thrillers came into the picture after Moss realized that there was some fun to be had in producing fiction and that the many real-life events he had witnessed and been a part of where far more entertaining than any fictitious tale that could be imagined.

Moss has been commended for effortlessly taking readers behind the scenes of international diplomatic matters.

+Literary Career

Todd Moss was a bit of a late bloomer. He was already in his forties when he began to write fiction. But Moss would say that he needed the first forty years of his life to accumulate the experience and knowledge necessary to produce hard-hitting fiction.

The author took to diplomatic life and, in particular, Africa, relatively early in his life. Moss went to Tufts University in Boston. It was during his stint at Tufts that Todd Moss volunteered to go on a trip to Africa.

Moss admits that he was simply following the trend at the time. Back in the 1990s, going to Africa was the cool thing to do. Though, in the case of Moss, his time in Africa and, specifically, Zimbabwe left a mark on him.

It was during the trip that Moss’ relationship with his girlfriend Donna progressed. Backpacking through the continent for twelve months allowed them to bond and to acquire a new appreciation for one another.

And it wasn’t long before they got married and had children.

A native of Rochester, once Todd Moss secured a position in the U.S. State Department, he knew he was home. The author was at the forefront of many political upheavals in West Africa.

He was always jetting in and out of that part of the continent, talking to democratically-elected leaders and dictators alike, brokering peace deals where possible and ensuring smooth transitions of power.

Even after leaving the State Department, the author found that he was a perfect fit for the Center for Global Development, an entity that collects data and processes it into significant information that could be used to influence the United States.

Moss technically stumbled into fiction writing. The author had dabbled in nonfiction before. In fact, he had produced four nonfiction books. Moss’ focus was on matters of politics, economics and their relation to Africa and its resources.

The author’s goal was to use his first-hand experiences to educate people on matters pertaining to West Africa. At the time, the author was in the process of writing a manuscript delving into the failures of the U.S. Foreign Policy.

Two reasons compelled Todd Moss to turn that nonfiction book into a fictional novel. First, Moss was bored. The idea of producing another nonfiction volume did not appeal to him because he realized that it would simply disappear into the realm of academia, explored in detail by scholars and diplomats but remaining largely ignored by the general public.

Moss thought in that moment that not only was he more likely to reach new readers but he would also have more fun if he tried writing a novel instead.

Secondly, it occurred to the author that writing fiction gave him more leeway to reveal the truth of his experience in the diplomatic service. Moss’s nonfiction works were heavily censored. As a former diplomat, Todd Moss was always careful about what he put on paper because so much of the things he knew he wasn’t permitted to reveal to the public.

By writing fiction, Moss could be more honest. He could talk about all those juicy stories from his days with the State Department that the government would never permit him to unveil in nonfiction.

Moss’ books are designed to highlight the role of diplomats in high stakes international matters. Most international thrillers highlight the adventures of the CIA and the Military. Moss thought that it was high time the diplomats were given an opportunity to shine.

+The Golden Hour

Judd Ryker has been appointed the director of the State Department Crisis Reaction Unit. Judd is ecstatic about the appointment. He believes he can use this new organization to streamline the way America reacts to foreign crises.

Ryker is especially excited to prove his theory of the Golden Hour. Ryker doesn’t expect to encounter so much resistance in his efforts in the form of all the infighting that occurs between entities like the White House, the CIA and the Pentagon.

But the obstacles won’t stop Ryker from doing his job. When a coup occurs in Mali, Ryker is deployed to resolve the situation, unaware of the manner in which his life and his understanding of the world will shift.

+Minute Zero

Judd Ryker is a crisis manager in the State Department struggling to get a handle on the complexities of his job. Still reeling from the events of his last assignment, Ryker is thrown back into the fire when Zimbabwe’s elections take a rowdy turn.

An African strongman is determined to keep a hold on the presidency no matter the consequences. If rumors of armed gangs and military crackdowns were not bad enough, Ryker must deal with talk of enriched uranium leaking into the market.

Book Series In Order » Authors » Todd Moss

Leave a Reply